Looking For Mugs
by The Squash
Summary: AU for Small Worlds. I've had this bouncing around in my head, then on fanlib for a while before that closed. Jack/Ianto.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: It all belongs to RTD. I have a cat that drools. You don't want that, do you?

* * *

"You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you, sir."

"That's different. I live here. You're just showing a dedication to your work that has me questioning your sanity." Jack brushes off the question.

"You live here, sir?" Ianto is surprised Jack hadn't found Lisa earlier. If he lived at the Hub, that would explain how he was the first to arrive every day, when by all rights, Ianto should have been, since he had to arrive early to see Lisa.

"It works. Please tell me you aren't that determined to make coffee."

"No, I was sorting through that heap Owen keeps leaving on his desk, and I got carried away." He gestures to the impeccably tidy desk the Ianto knows _he_ had previously been certain was a garbage heap. "I was looking for mugs, sir." He adds quickly.

"Ianto, is there _anything_ you won't use that excuse for?" Jack slides easily into the innuendo.

"Actually, the mess was bothering me. I believe it was starting to smell, sir." He stands awkwardly as Jack shifts, catching himself from looking ridiculous. Privately, Ianto likes the fact that he alone can catch the Captain off-guard.

"Ianto, you don't need to clean up Owen's mess."

Ianto sighs slightly, almost imperceptably. "It's not like he'll ever tidy it himself, sir."

"Ianto," Jack states, "You hold far more leverage over the hub, than you know. For one thing, your coffee is addictive."

"It's a bit disappointing to be remembered for my coffee, sir." Honestly, Ianto isn't even sure for a second that he said that aloud. It must be the late hour getting to him, because he's usually better at hiding his thoughts. Much better, since he just said that.

"Then why the hell do you take such pride in it?"

"I don't, sir. I just do it."

Jack seems to _want _conflict. "Which is why you get here so ridiculously early every morning, throw on the coffee and have it laid out for us, even now that Lisa's dead. Because you hate making the coffee."

"I didn't say I hated it, sir, I said that it isn't very pleasing just to be the tea-boy." He's already gone off on this track, so Ianto figures there's no use in trying to change the subject.

Jack seems to think for a minute, picking up a pen and fiddling with it as he thinks. "Come," He says at last, "Let me make you some coffee."

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AN: Reviews are good!


	2. Chapter 2

"Sorry about the coffee." Jack winces in minor disgust. "There's a reason I hired you."

"I was aware there was a purpose to your hiring me, sir." Ianto says. He's not entirely certain what is happening. He cleaned Owens desk, and now is Jack trying to _poison_ him?

For a few minutes, the two men sit in an awkward silence, Ianto staring at his cup of coffee, praying it will just vanish. Jack drinks his, with a methodical _sip, wince, swallow_ pattern that makes Ianto cringe with sympathy.

"I used to travel with a doctor." Jack says at last. Ianto figures he's gotten sick of watching him suffer in empathy. "I learned to make coffee earlier, but the fellow ruined me."

"Actually, sir," Ianto says, "I wouldn't be surprised if it was _you_ taking advantage of _him_." Ianto has no idea what's gotten into him. It must be the bad coffee. That sounded like something Jack would say.

"Never mind that. It was my talent for making coffee he ruined. He didn't do domestic, and _his_ coffee would reflect that, thank-you-very-much." Apparently, Ianto notices, the evening is having the opposite effect on Jack. Not only is this the most open the Captain has even been about his past, usually Jack would never pass up an opportunity to make a lascivious comment.

"So you hired me."

"Well, I never much liked the bad coffee." Jack explains. "And you were hot."

"That ought to be harassment, sir." Ianto knows he should be glad Jack is acting more normally. But the late hour is making him feel almost giddy, and he doesn't know what could happen. The balance isn't right. Its always been Jack acting inappropriately, and Ianto rebuffing him. He tries to give Jack his usual line about harassment, but it comes out weaker than usual, more half-hearted.

"_Ought_ to? So it isn't harassment yet, is it, then?" Jack seems to light up at the softening of Ianto's resolve.

"Well, this isn't exactly working hours, sir, and neither of us ought to be here, and it's Torchwood, sir, and- and-." Ianto has run out of excuses. Worse, he knows Jack knows it.

"So, is this harassment?" Mischievously, Jack leans across the table and kisses Ianto full on the lips.


	3. Chapter 3

For a moment, Ianto isn't entirely certain what to do. Somewhere in his mind, something just exploded. Not in a movie-moment, magical fireworks way, but a bit more like a fatal hiccup. Probably that's the bit that's been moaning at him all night, and right now, between Jack kissing him and no longer needing to drink the coffee and feel awkward, he's pretty glad that bit of him has blown up.

Mostly though, kissing Jack is a matter of knowing what he wants, and in all honesty, right now Ianto really does want Jack kissing him, Jack near him, and maybe, just _maybe_, the table not sticking in his gut.

But the table can wait. For those first anxious seconds, seizing Jack and trying to kiss him properly, Ianto can ignore the table entirely, focusing on more pleasant things, like how the horrible coffee doesn't smell so bad, or taste so bad, when he's only tasting it because Jack's kissing him, but then he has to sadly push Jack away for a minute, just a minute.

"Sorry." He says, apologizing, "The table is sticking in my ribs, and I just can't do this--not with a table in my ribs, sir."

And then Jack pulls him around the table and kisses him again. He's trying to get off his suit jacket and the coffee spills and it's scalding, but Jack is laughing, and Ianto finds himself laughing, and pretty soon they're back to undressing Ianto and everything is fine.

* * *

AN: That's as graphic as it's going to get, by the way. I want to keep it at T, mostly because I feel awkward writing anything more graphic. Feel free to imagine, though. Really.


	4. Chapter 4

Ianto stretches, then frowns as he realizes he's not in his flat. More to the point, he's definitely not alone, and the color scheme is all wrong. He doesn't know what time it is, but it feels too early. He rolls over, nestling against Jack's side and he falls into that odd place between sleeping and being awake.

Somewhere along the way, Ianto's mind starts working again. He actually liked it when he was more asleep, and didn't have to think about things like what he's going to wear tomorrow--well, today, but that's not the point.

At least Tosh, probably Gwen, will be able to infer what's happened. Tosh knows him too well to think he'd show up to work in a dirty suit, much less the _wrinkled_ dirty suit he wore yesterday. He moans, and for a moment Jack stirs, but fortunately doesn't wake.

He likes this, being curled up next to Jack. Maybe it should have happened sooner, but that wasn't really possible. He stops thinking, just to savor the moment, and accidentally drifts back to sleep.

---

"Ianto?" Jack is shaking his shoulder. "I think we ought to get up."

"Uungh." Ianto complains, incapable of coherent speech.

"I know." He says, "It's early. But you probably want to shower, and I know that'll take a while."

"What's the point of that?" Ianto asks. "I'm going to be wearing a dirty suit anyways, so why not just get to what I think you're suggesting and skip the getting-up bit."

"Because you usually arrive about this time, so Tosh is coming in half an hour and might find us in here." Jack explains.

"But I had the perfect excuse prepared." Ianto smiles.

"Which is?"

"I was looking for mugs, sir."


End file.
